Put up a traffic sign: the best art statement is direct action
Richard Ankrom’s art is also an example of the power of direct action to fix social problems.
An artist named Richard Ankrom had the same experience, and so he did what any fed-up Los Angeles driver would do: He began designing a simple directional tool to help drivers prepare for the 5’s poorly-marked, hairpin exit. He designed and sewed a Caltrans uniform, cut the shield-like “5″ shape as well as a “NORTH” from sheet metal, and affixed the reflectors to match the existing system. He even gave the signage a nice dusting of L.A. smog-sheen so it wouldn’t look glaringly new. And on August 5, 2001, in broad daylight, he hoisted a ladder onto Gantry 21300, walked onto a catwalk above one of the city’s busiest arteries, and installed his own freeway sign. This collage of six time-lapsed photos shows how he did it. There are more on Ankrom’s site.
Maybe Angelenos really are too busy text messaging against the steering wheel and applying mascara with the help of the visor mirror to truly pay attention to the view out their windshields. And perhaps we do have a bit of a bureaucracy problem with our state government. Either way, no one noticed it for nine months.
Ankrom eventually leaked the story to the Downtown News, stunning millions of duped commuters, and effectively coming clean to Caltrans. But Caltrans knew Ankrom was right. For eight years, the sign remained. Christopher Knight reviewed it for the Los Angeles Times as if it was a public art piece. A video and an exhibition were created of Ankrom’s work, and he was featured on pretty much every news outlet you could imagine, from local to international. And every time I saw the hand-applied NORTH 5, I felt like the ultimate L.A.-insider for knowing the story behind it.
To me, it was Los Angeles’s Single Greatest Secret—and it became my single favorite L.A. thing to share with people. Most people who lived here had never heard the tale, so like a cultural ambassador, I felt it was my duty to tell them. I worked it into a review I wrote for Print Magazine about a book on effective wayfinding systems. When giving people directions I would point it out like a landmark. (”Be sure to look at the sign as you’re heading north on the 110…no, no don’t go north on the 5, look at the sign.”) Anyone lucky enough to be in a car with me while heading northbound on the 110 would get the full narrative, which I had timed perfectly to a grand reveal as we sailed under the glittery, counterfeit characters.